Creative writing competition 2016: for adults

Win Dolphin software and £50 prizes in the Seeing Ear poetry and prose competition for adults!

If you’re 18 or over and are visually impaired, have dyslexia or a disability that makes it difficult to read printed books, then we want you to enter.

Dolphin is generously donating prizes again this year. The winner can choose anything they like from their range of products up to a value of £££.

Entry is free, and we’re also be offering a range of runners up prizes, as well as producing a competition anthology of selected entries.

Entry closed on 5 December. Results will be announced in the new year.

Eligibility

• You must be aged 18 or over.
  
• You must be resident in the UK.
  
• If you are eligible to download books form the Seeing Ear online library, then you are eligible to enter the competition. You can check your eligibility by joining our library.
  
• All entries must be your own work and must be in English. There are no restrictions on form or style.
  
• Poems must be no longer than 40 lines and prose must be no longer than 500 words.
  
• Entries must be received before midnight on 5 December 2016.
  

Entry

• You can only enter the competition using our online competition entry form.
  
• You can only enter the competition once. Our entry form allows you to submit between one and three entries. When entering more than one piece of work this must be done by using the entry form only once.
  
• You cannot alter your competition entry. If you choose to withdraw your competition entry you cannot re-enter the competition. To withdraw your entry please contact support [at] seeingear.org
  
• Each piece of work must be in a separate file. The file must be in text (.txt) or Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) format. The file should contain no distinguishing marks such as name or email address.
  
• By entering the competition you agree to allow your entry to be included in an anthology whether or not you win or are included in the runners up. You retain the copyright of your entry.
  

Judging

• Entries will be shortlisted by Seeing Ear staff. The overall winner will be judged separately by a judge TBC, the poetry runner up will be judged by Alvin Culzac and the prose runner up will be judged by Sally Patricia Gardner. Judges’ decisions are final.
  

Winners

• The overall winner will receive assistive technology from Dolphin Computer Access, a year’s membership to ‘The Royal Society of Literature’, £50 from Seeing Ear and the opportunity to request for up to 5 books to be added to our online library.
  
• The runner up for the poetry section and a runner up for the prose section will both receive £50 from Seeing Ear and the opportunity to request for up to 5 books to be added to our online library.
  
• The results will be announced on 1 March 2017. The results will be posted on the Seeing Ear website and all competition entrants will be contacted by email. The announcement will include the winner, the runners up and a list of the entrants who have had work selected to appear in the competition anthology.
  

Competition anthology

• The winning entry and the entries judged to be runners up will be published in a print and online anthology and may also be published online on the Seeing Ear website.
  
• The print and online anthology will also include work selected from among the other competition entries.
  
• Poems and prose reproduced in the anthology will be edited and typeset at the discretion of Seeing Ear.
  
• Each entry in the anthology will be attributed. Attributions will be full name and nearest town, according to the wishes of the author.
  
• All authors appearing in the anthology will receive one free copy of the print anthology by post.
  
• The anthology will be for sale on the Seeing Ear website.